Kiwi Quark Mousse - With Zespri Kiwifruit!

Kiwifruit aka Chinese gooseberry.  Familiar, but not quite.  But fascinating it has always been!  The egg shaped, far from attractive fuzzy exterior, reveals a pretty seed flecked interior in an intriguing shade of green.  And now a gorgeous yellow too I discover, thanks to this event by Zespri International at ITC Gardenia last month.  I know this post comes late, blame it on the festive season, the inevitable sweets and savories galore.  And then some!

At ITC Gardenia, Chef Yogen Datta and team demonstrated a few recipes to showcase the versatility of the fruit which can be used in everyday dishes as well as exotic ones.  Kiwi Cheesecake, Carpaccio of Kiwi with Silken Tofu,  Rucola, Kiwi & Rosemary Salsa,  Sushi with a Kiwi twist,  Kiwi Caprioska and Kiwi Sangria were among those demonstrated to us. 

Zespri International is owned by over 2,500 kiwifruit growers of New Zealand.  They claim that the fruit they grow comes with the highest assurance of quality.  Along with the conventionally grown fruit, they also sell organic kiwifruit, both green and yellow.  The fruit always comes with a Zespri sticker, so be sure your fruit has it if you are looking for those grown by them. 

Zespri Green Kiwifruit  are tart-sweet, sweeter when ripe.  The yellow ones, Sun Gold Kiwifruit are sweeter with a tropical flavor.  The green ones sometimes may need to be stored for sometime before they are ripe enough, whereas the yellow ones are always ready to eat. 

Choosing and storing : Look for plump fruit with a smooth skin and no bruises.  If you are looking for ripe ones, choose those which yield to gentle pressure.  Those not ripe yet can be left on the counter for a couple of days to ripen.  If you want to hasten the ripening process, put the kiwi in a paper bag with a banana or apple. When it is ripe enough and you  don't want it to ripen further, store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.  I gather, the fruit is enjoy best chilled and is ripe enough, but not mushy! Mushy ones can probably be used in smoothies.

To eat the ripe fruit, just cut it into half, scoop the flesh out and dig in!  The flesh of the Kiwi fruit is very soft and you could cook it into mush in a matter of seconds.  I prefer to eat it as is or as a topping or in a salad or just pureed to use in a dessert.  

Nutrition : Nutrition dense kiwi fruit is supposed to be very rich in calcium,  potassium and fiber.  It has a very low glycemic index too, perfect for the health conscious!

Here is what I made with the fruit.  As I mentioned earlier, the kiwis got my attention a bit late! A simple yet refreshing Quark Mousse topped with Kiwi Fruit.  I have been dreaming of this as a filling in my cake since the time I made this mousse. 

Kiwi Quark Mousse : Inspired By Deeba Rajpal. 

Serves 6.

Ingredients: 

Homemade Quark, well drained : 1 Cup

Whipping cream - 1 cup to get 2 cups whipped cream ( I have used sweetened non-dairy)

Sugar - 2 tablespoons or more to taste (read note)

Pure Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon

Kiwi fruit puree - 1/2 cup

Sliced Kiwis and fresh mint for garnish.

Method : Whisk together the quark, sugar, vanilla and kiwi fruit puree.  Whip the cream to soft peaks.  Gently, fold it into the quark.  Spoon into dessert glasses. Cover with cling film and chill for 4-5 hours.  Garnish with fresh kiwi slices and fresh mint leaves just before serving. 

Please note : If using unsweetened cream, add more sugar as needed.  You may also need to stabilize the mousse with agar agar or gelatin. In the picture above is with Amul cream which did not hold up very well. It works very well with non-dairy cream though. 

Add a touch of wholesome green or yellow to perk up your salad or dessert with some kiwifruit for a change!  For more information on Zespri Kiwifruit, please do check their website.

Kiwi, Lime Syrup Sponge And Cream Trifle

Talk about saving things for a rainy day! I like having things in the freezer for really lazy days or days when I want to rustle up food with little or no effort or effort spread over.  Cookie dough, sponge cake, muffins, crepes, puff pastry, ladyfingers, custard sauce, ganache and the kind.  Fresh warm cookies in a flash,  muffins to throw in the kids’ snack box on that mad morning or just that little bit of custard sauce for that dessert as a finishing touch.  Or some sponge cake to make a no effort trifle when you need dessert but all the work you want to do is whip some cream.

You would probably imagine I have a huge freezer stacked with labeled boxes.  Yes! It’s just that way – featuring prominently in my culinary fantasies! ( Hubby has no doubts whatsoever that I will feed the family solely out of the freezer if I had one big enough) But wait, I make an effort and space in my smallish freezer so that I have at least one or two of these.  The poor things need to jostle for space amongst the ice trays, packets of yeast, boxes of whipping cream, mint chutney, pizza sauce, nuts, cardamom and precious almond meal you see. The sponge barely in one piece struggling to get out of the freezer is perfect for a trifle. Put together with whatever else is available.

Kiwi and fresh cream, with bits of a broken sponge came in handy on this rainy…oops sunny day!

Kiwi & Cream Lime Syrup Sponge Trifle

The sponge of course was a plain fatless vanilla sponge again (please don’t roll your eyes, you will break my heart). Since I wanted it lemony, I have soaked it in a mildly tangy syrup. You can make the sponge with lime zest of course. The cream could be simple vanilla whipped cream or one with lime zest, or cream and mascarpone. Why just kiwi, make it macerated strawberries or fresh mango. 

You can make about 6-10 servings depending on how much cake you like in the trifle.  As you can see there is more cream here but I added cake again later as more of cake and less of cream tastes way better. You are better off having a little extra syrup or cream on hand  rather than fall short while assembling. 

Ingredients:

Fatless sponge: recipe here . Add a generous 2-3 teaspoons zest to the sponge batter in place of the coffee. Or use your favorite sponge or savoirdi, just be sure it holds syrup well without going pasty.

Whipping  Cream : 2 cups / 480 ml, chilled ( I use sweetened non-dairy cream, read note)

Lime zest  – 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon

For the syrup

 Water – 240 ml / 1 cup

 Sugar – ¼ cup

 Lime juice – 2 teaspoons ( for mildly tangy syrup, do add to taste)

 Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon

 Fresh ripe kiwi fruit, please read note (or mangoes) – 2-3, peeled and sliced

        To proceed:

• Chill the beaters and the bowl in which you will whip the cream for atleast ½ an hour. Take a large bowl filled with ice. Place the chilled cream in the cold bowl and sit this bowl in the larger bowl of ice. Whip the cream till medium peaks form. Fold in the zest and vanilla. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate.

• Syrup : Heat the water and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat, add the juice and vanilla. Cool. Taste as you go.
•  Assemble : Fill the cream in a pastry bag. Tear the sponge into one inch bits.  Place in a wide bowl and spoon the syrup over the cake to moisten thoroughly. Drain any extra syrup.

• Layer as you wish in glasses or in a large glass bowl.  Use cream judiciously, just enough for contrast . Cake first, cream and fruit. Repeat with more cake. If you put the cream in first, it looks pretty, but you may end up using more of it.
• Pipe with a decorative tip or spoon more cream on top.
• Cover with cling wrap, refrigerate at least overnight. Longer is even better. Serve garnished with kiwi slices and a sprig of mint. 

 Please note : Kiwi fruit is sweet when soft and ripe, mine could have been more ripe. Check this.

Try heating a couple of tablespoons of cream, take off the heat, stir in the zest. Cover and let infuse for a few minutes. Strain and add to the remaining cream, chill and whip. Will do this next time.